Reactivate Recurring Invoices

			Helpful Hint

	Set your printer to SaveAtree, and run a Proof Run first. See the results
	of the run in Options: View last Report. This should prevent any surprises.
	This also documents the reasons for skipping any recurring invoices that
	although shipped, have not been fully processed. Note that a Proof Run does 
	not update any files - it just shows what would be updated.

		What is a Recurring Invoice?

	The purpose of a recurring invoice is to be able to do repeat billing for a
	customer for the same amount without having to re-enter the invoice each 
	billing cycle.

	An Invoice with a Salesperson Code that begins with the word RECUR is
	considered a recurring invoice, In this system the word RECUR may be
	lower or mixed case also. Ex: recur Recur
	
			Re-activating	

	A recurring invoice that is open maybe be shipped, printed, and be
	updated to the G/L as any other invoice. However, when it is time
	for the billing to be repeated, you may run this Reactivation process which 
	re-opens the invoice so that it ready to be shipped, printed, etc., again.
	Before the reactivated invoice is shipped, it may be edited (changed) like
	any other open order/invoice.

	Reactivating an invoice updates the new billable amount as an open order amount
	to the customer. If any of the line items contain inventory items, these are 
	put on reserve also.

	The reactivation process assigns a new invoice number to each recurring invoice
	that is re-opened. Both the master and transaction (detail lines) space
	space is re-used. The OEINDEX is resequenced (rebuilt) according to the new numbers.

	Consequently the old recurring invoice# is no longer in the Current OE files after
	reactivation. In order to maintain a copy of the old data, a condition of
	reactivation is that the old invoice number must be in the history file (archived),
	or it will be skipped.

			Salesperson Code Options
  
	The field must always have the word RECUR (upper/lower case) as the first
	5 characters in order to be recognized as a recurring invoice.

	If a recurring invoice needs to EXPIRE after a certain number of cycles, 
	simply put the # of cycles after the word "recur". Example for 12 cycles
	of billing use Recur 12, or RECUR 6 for 6 cycles. Each time the invoice
	is reactivated the # is automaticly reduced by 1. So if you lookup 
	a recurring invoice like this, you can see how many reactivation cycles 
	are remaining by viewing the # after the word RECUR. If it says Recur 1 for
	example, it has one billing (reactivation) cycle left.

	When the number of remaining cycles are zero, it automaticly changes the
	salesperson code to RECUR DELETE EXPIRED, and the invoice is not re-opened.
	The transaction file Purge program knows to remove any invoices marked
	RECUR DELETE.

	If there is NO number after the word RECUR, the invoice will NEVER expire.  

	You may put additional information after the word RECUR if you do not use
	cycle limits, for instance a salesperson name or code. But if you use cycle
	limits, that info will be erased after the first reactivation when the limit 
	is decremented. Be careful of unintentionally putting a number within the 
	first 3 characters AFTER the word RECUR, unless you are actually putting in 
	a cycle limit. Note that if more than 99 cyles are needed, it is valid to
	enter as RECUR120 for instance if 120 cycles are needed.

			New Beginning Invoice Number

	This is the first number to be assigned to the reactivated invoices. It will
	automaticly increment by 1 for each invoice re-opened.

	It is required that the first character must be "R", unless using the Next option
	which will use the Next Automatic Number already set up in the system. If any 
	of the new numbers generated are already in use in either the current or
	history files, you are notified, and the run is ended at that point. This 
	allows you to reactivate any remaining using a different series.

	The default Beginning number that appears, is based on the year, month, and
	a number to start with. Of course the first character is R, and the 2nd character
	the last digit of the current accounting year. The 3rd character is for the
	current accounting month where:
		1-9 is for January-September
		T is for ocTober - don't use O (oh) because looks like a zero    
		N is for November
		D is for December
	The next 4 characters are the number to start with, ie 0001.
	Examples:
		R7T0001 would be for a series in Oct of 2007
		R810001 would be for Jan 2008

	This scheme allows for up to 9,999 invoices per cycle (month?) before an
	overrun (if an overrun is detected during reactivation, the run is stopped
	at that point). If more than that is needed you may lengthen the number
	one more character, ie R7T00001. This would not allow for adding a C character
	later on if a credit invoice was to be made from it. The maximun total characters
	in the number may not be more than 8.

	Using this number scheme allows for easy identification of when these
	were created, espcially when viewing from the History file. It keeps them in 
	year order. However, you may use any scheme you wish, as long as the first
	letter is R (unless using Next Auto#), and the result does not duplicate
	any invoice numbers already in the system.
    
	 		Reactivate Report

	This report lists all recurring invoices selected for reactivation. The old 
	and new numbers are printed with the invoice customer and amount.

			Error Reporting

	Any already open (unshipped) recurring invoices are skipped and not listed. Any 
	invoice not in the input range or within the skip ranges are not printed. However 
	any invoices eligible for reactivation (been shipped) but have not been flagged
	as printed, not flagged as GL updated, or are not archived (not in the history
	file) will be printed, along with the reason skipped. Thats why it is important 
	to run a proof run, so these skipped ones may be fully processed, and then 
	get reactivated.

			Credit Limit Checking (if enabled)

	Note that each customer has a credit limit field on the Customer master
	screen in A/R. 		

	If an amount is in the Credit Limit field, and the customers current balance
	is greater than the credit limit amount, it is considered over the credit limit.
	Open order amounts are NOT taken into consideration for this run.

	For customers that are usually only billed through recurring invoices, you may use
	a relative cycle method for limiting credit. In the Credit Limit field put an
	X followed by a number of cycles, for instance X 2 (or X2) means the limit is 2 times
	the amount of the recurring invoice about to be reactivated. If the customer
	balance is greater than 2 times the invoice amount, it is considered over the
	Credit Limit.

	For any recurring invoices accessed that would otherwise be reactivated, AND
	it is determined the Credit Limit has been exceeded as just explained above,
	the invoice is skipped, and the salesperson field is set to RECUR DELETE OVRLMT.
	The invoice info and error message are also printed.    

	Note also that if the words HOLD or COD (upper or lower case) are found 
	ANYWHERE in the Credit Limit field, the eligible invoice is skipped, but
	left as is, to possibly be reactivated in another session. It is also printed
	with the reason for skipping.   

		RECUR DELETE invoice status (salesperon field)

	Invoices that have had the Salesperson field set to "RECUR DELETE ....." 
	are ignored on any later Reactivation runs. The invoice is then treated
	as any other completed invoice for purging based on cutoff date.

	To renew the invoice for more cycles, remove the word DELETE from the 
	Saleperson field. 

	To Cancel a recurring invoice manually, if it is open (been reactivated),
	simply delete all the line items on the invoice, and remove the word RECUR.
	It will go away with the next purge. If the invoice is closed (has not been
	re-activated, put the word DELETE after the word RECUR, and it will be ignored
	on the next reactivation run, and will go away with the next purge according
	to the cutoff date used for that purge.